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Saturday, March 7, 2015

A leading cause of autoimmune disease and more

I think it's pretty safe to say that when something is leaking, it's rarely a good thing.

For example, leaky roofs can lead to spongy walls, damaged ceilings and electrical hazards, leaky refrigerators, toilets or dishwashers can mean you'll be buying a new floor soon and if you’re in a boat that’s leaking, well, it’s time to start swimming.

But there's another kind of leak that is a little more quiet and sneaky, yet it can cause a tornado of damaging effects to your health.

I'm talking about a leaky gut wall.

Here's the scoop on this leak that you'll want to plug up as soon as possible if you've got it:

The gallant gut
Technically your entire digestive system can be considered your "gut," but most commonly the gut is referring to your intestinal tract.

Now, to understand what leaky gut is and how it can be so destructive, it's important to have an appreciation for what I call your "gallant gut."

Your gut is SO much more than just the path your food follows as it is being digested.

It houses almost 3/4ths of your immune system.

It has its own nervous system and innate intelligence. That's why your gut is called your "second brain." If the nerves between your gut and brain were ever severed, your gut could continue to function on its own.

And your health from head to toe (as well as your LIFE) depends on its ability to efficiently eliminate wastes, absorb essential nutrients and protect you from external dangers.

Cheesecloth or spaghetti strainer?
When it's healthy, your gut wall can be compared to a piece of cheesecloth.

It has teeny tiny spaces between the cells in its lining that are just big enough to let properly broken down molecules of food through, so they can get into your bloodstream to nourish you.

But it's also woven tightly enough to securely contain foods that are NOT properly broken down, as well as toxins that you may have ingested, dangerous bacteria and viruses.

These "invaders" are "jailed" in your cheesecloth gut until they can be escorted away with your bowel movements.

This is a perfect system designed by Nature to keep you nourished and protect you from sickness and danger.

The land of the leaky
When the spaces between your intestinal cells instead start to act more like a spaghetti strainer, not only do toxins and viruses have a green light to enter your bloodstream, but food particles that are WAY too big to be used for nourishment can get in there too.

When this happens, the immune cells in your bloodstream sound the alarm bell because these too-large food particles (called circulating immune complexes) are seen as a harmful invader.

Then your immune system reacts by launching an attack against this perceived nemesis and in the process a lot of inflammation is created.

At the same time your immune system produces antibodies against this new "adversary" so it can recognize it quickly if it dares to enter again.

So, for example, if some too-big egg molecules get into your bloodstream, you may eventually find yourself getting sick from eggs and not being able to eat them anymore.

I've just described the creation of a food sensitivity.

This is why you might notice that a certain food all of a sudden makes you sick, yet you might have never had a problem with it in the past.

But it kinda looks like an egg!
This misguided immune reaction doesn’t stop with foods suddenly not agreeing with you. Let’s take a look further down the road continuing with my egg example above.

Once your immune system creates these new antibodies for things like big egg molecules, the antibodies cruise through your bloodstream on the alert, watching for more eggs.

But they're not always the sharpest pencils in the box.

Because they might see an innocent part of your body, such as knee cartilage, and mistake it for an egg antigen.

At that point it can attack the antigen on the knee cartilage and create an inflammatory reaction in your knee!

If this goes on long-term, it can trigger arthritis in the knee or any other body part or joint.

Then every time you eat eggs not only might you get diarrhea, facial swelling, cramping, hives and vomiting from the egg itself, but your knees can start hurting within 48 hours too!

Any part of your body is fair game for this mixed-up antibody attack.

For example, if it takes place in your lungs instead, you could develop asthma.

Over time, this is how many an autoimmune condition is born, including rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, Graves’ disease, Crohn’s disease, psoriasis and MS.

Whew! I'm pooped too!
At the same time the too-big eggs are gliding through your bloodstream, as I mentioned above, toxins also have an open door to come on in.

This puts your liver under tremendous stress to perform its detox work and filter them all out...and eventually it might not be able to keep up.

At that point, the un-detoxified chemicals can back up in your brain and cause dizziness and the inability to think straight (otherwise known as "brain fog.").

Your liver can also begin storing toxins in your fat cells--much like the way you put boxes of stuff in your garage, cellar or closet to deal with at a later time.

If your liver has time later, it can deal with the stored toxins; however, with a leaky gut, there's usually a consistent barrage of newly arriving toxins, so your liver never gets a chance to play catch-up.

So it's no surprise that leaky gut is associated with liver diseases such as cirrhosis.

The many faces of a leaky gut
Since your bloodstream happens to go everywhere in your body, this means that poorly digested food and dangerous toxins and pathogens can cause you virtually unlimited forms of misery from head to toe.

In addition to the conditions I mentioned above, here is a more complete listing of health issues that are commonly associated with a leaky gut wall:

Acne

Ankylosing spondylitis

Autism

Autoimmune hepatitis

Celiac disease

Chronic fatigue syndrome

Crohn's disease

Cystic fibrosis

Eczema

Graves’ disease (overactive thyroid)

Hashimoto’s disease (underactive thyroid)

Hives

Intestinal infections

IBS (irritable bowel syndrome)

Malnutrition

Multiple sclerosis

Pancreatic insufficiency

Psoriasis

Rheumatoid arthritis

Schizophrenia

Scleroderma

Systemic lupus erythematosus

Ulcerative colitis

If you have been diagnosed with any of those conditions, chances are excellent that you may have a leaky gut issue.

The pot's simmering
Now it is possible that your gut may be leaky yet it might not have led to a full-blown disease yet.

But that doesn't mean that the pot isn't simmering and that nothing's going on in your gut wall.

Here is a list of vague symptoms that are commonly seen with a leaky gut but are typically blamed on something else:

Abdominal pain

Anxiety; nervousness

Asthma

Bloating; gas

Chronic joint or muscle pain

Constipation

Diarrhea

Fatigue

Fevers

Low immune function

Mood swings

Recurrent infections

Shortness of breath

If you have any of the above symptoms and they can't otherwise be explained and/or you consistently need medication to alleviate them, you too may be leaky.

How do I spring a leak?
Unfortunately, there are a good many factors around us that cause or worsen a leaky gut wall...so it's pretty easy to get.

Some of the common causes of a leaky gut wall include:

Chronic stress

Environmental contaminants (including unfiltered tap water)

Gastrointestinal disease and use of antacids/acid reducers

Excessive alcohol or caffeine intake

Non-treated exposure to bacteria, parasites and yeast

Use of NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs), steroids, birth control pills or antibiotics.

But far and away, the biggest cause of leaky gut is OUR TYPICAL DIETS.

The role of your diet in the development of leaky gut is actually threefold:

#1- Destruction of protective gut flora
First of all, many people eat boatloads of refined carbs and drink soda by the gallon, both of which cause a sugar tidal wave in your body.

This sugar is food for the harmful bacteria in your gut, so they are nourished and begin to overcome your friendly protective flora.

The harmful bacteria are then free to "eat away" at your intestinal lining, weakening it and making it leaky.

#2- Poor digestion
The typical diet of fast or processed food and smorgasbord-type meals that most people have can be next to impossible for your system to properly break down.

As a result, your intestines can get flooded with too-large food molecules (like the eggs I described above) that can bump up against the wall of your intestine, eventually bullying their way through.

#3- Low fiber
Our average processed and fast food diets are also grossly lacking in fiber, which lengthens your bowel transit time--meaning the length of time it takes for food to go from one end of you to the other.

With wastes hanging around too long in your intestinal tract, the harmful bacteria in them can flourish and weaken and irritate your gut wall.

Plug that leak now!
As you can see, the health of your gut goes way beyond just preventing gas and having a daily bowel movement!

Having a nice, strong "cheesecloth-like" gut wall can help you make tremendous strides toward preventing a variety of sickness and inflammation from head to toe.

And even if you are already suffering from health conditions that are caused or worsened by a leaky gut, you can many times help improve or even in some cases REVERSE those conditions and get back on the road to health!

The best part of all is helping to strengthen your gut wall and make it less porous is actually pretty easy!

It just involves two very simple steps:

Structure your meals so that your body can more easily break them down.
The Great Taste No Pain health system will teach you exactly how to do this.

Great Taste No Pain will show you the few easy food-pairing principles you'll need to remember to make all your meals easier for your body to digest, and give you suggestions to plan meals around all of your favorite foods--including meats, poultry, fish, pastas, grains and more.

More efficient digestion means food particles that are "just the right size" when they pass through your intestinal wall, so your immune system can see them and says, "Oh, yes. That's just food—I can leave it alone.”

Better digestion also encourages more regular BMs and a healthier bowel transit time--and less chance for harmful bacteria to fester.

Ensure your intestinal flora is properly balanced.
The friendly bacteria in your system help to keep the gut wall non-porous, as well as assisting with digestion and keeping harmful bacteria under control.

The ideal flora balance is having at least 85% beneficial bacteria and no more than 15% harmful.

The problem is most people are walking around with the complete OPPOSITE of what they should have! This is not only due to poor digestion, but also environmental toxins, medications, stress and lack of sleep—factors which affect most all of us at one time or another.

Super Shield contains strong, effective strains of 13 friendly bacteria that are robust and ready to take their place in your system. They can help fend off the bad guys, encourage smooth digestion, support your immune system and help promote a nice strong gut wall.

Many healthcare professionals are recommending probiotic supplements to their patients, especially to help counteract the gut side effects of antibiotics that they prescribe—and now you know why that is so.

A nice strong gut wall can make all the difference in the world to your health.

See for yourself what it can do for you.

To your health,

Sherry Brescia

PS: Always be sure to let your doctor or healthcare provider know what supplements you are taking.